Med teams to monitor govt staff at Secretariat
With the commencing of the Assembly session, the government has taken serious note on the spread of coronavirus and has decided to place medical teams to monitor the secretariat staff and visitors during the month-long session.
By : migrator
Update: 2020-03-10 19:35 GMT
Chennai
“Awareness has been given to Secretariat staff by issuing circulars through department heads and by posting circulars on the notice boards. Also, a team of nurses will monitor the government staff and visitors throughout the session,” said AR Rahul Nadh, Deputy Secretary, Public (Protocol) Department.
Secretariat normally witnesses a huge crowd including that of 6,000 staff. The Assembly session will have the presence of all the MLAs, their assistants and supporters.
After coronavirus started to make inroads into the State, the government has asked the people not to undertake unnecessary travel and to avoid crowding. It has also decided to deploy a full-fledged medical team at the campus.
MLAs attending the Assembly session have sought more precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19. “A tertiary medical unit should be set up at the Secretariat with a team of doctors and nurses, apart from medical camps to closely monitor the situation. Screening procedures similar to airports should be set up here,” said P Saravanan, Tirupparankundram MLA and a doctor by profession.
Saravanan was the only MLA to wear a face mask on day one of the session to bring awareness on the spread of the coronavirus.
Rahul Nadh said thermal screening is practically not possible at the Secretariat. However, nurses will be there at all the entrances. If any of the staff are found tired or exhibiting symptoms they will be taken for screening, he said.
Several flights to city cancelled
The panic over the spread of coronavirus has had an impact on the airlines sector, with flights to Kuala Lumpur, Doha, Frankfurt, Kuwait, and Thailand being cancelled on Tuesday due to lack of passengers. Following the concerns over the infectious disease, a large number of people are refraining from travelling to foreign countries. Governments and public health experts across the world have been advising people to avoid unnecessary visits, especially to countries where COVID-19 cases have been reported. On Monday, the arrival and departure of 14 flights were cancelled. On Tuesday, the number of cancellations went up to 20. The arrival of Lufthansa Airlines flight from Frankfurt, Kuwait Airlines flight from Kuwait, Thai Airlines flight from Thailand, Indigo airlines flights from Doha and Kuwait, Saudi Airlines flight from Jeddah, SF Express flight from Shenzhen, and Malaysian Airlines flight from Kuala Lumpur were cancelled.
Testing centre sought at Vellore
The district administration here has requested the State government to make the Vellore Government Medical College Hospital a testing centre for COVID-19, Collector A Shanmuga Sundaram said on Tuesday. Revealing this after inspecting spraying of Lysol on government buses and personally handing over pamphlets on how to safeguard oneself against the virus, he said the district administration’s request was based on the fact that Vellore attracted many foreign and other state visitors due to the presence of CMC hospital, VIT university and the Sripuram Golden temple. He said foreign students in VIT university had been advised against inviting their parents to visit them, as also CMC officials. Similarly, as those travelling to Tirupathi and those visiting the golden temple were from other states, efforts are on to ensure that vehicles were checked in 13 locations in the district, he added.
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